Some women, especially women who have given birth to one or more children, and older women, can experience incidences of involuntary urine loss due to stress urinary incontinence or combined stress and urge incontinence. A sneeze or cough can increase the intra-abdominal pressure impinging on a person's bladder and cause the involuntary release of urine. The frequency and severity of such urine loss can increase as the muscles and tissues near the urethro-vaginal myofascial area grow weaker. It has also been recognized that the urinary sphincter muscle, which is located at the upper end of the urethra adjacent to the bladder, works well at sealing off the passing of urine from the bladder to the urethra when it has a round or circular cross-sectional configuration. However, when this passageway becomes distorted into a cross-sectional configuration having more of an elliptical or oval appearance, the sphincter muscle can not close properly, therefore, the tendency for involuntary urine loss increases.
As the world's female population ages, there is an ever increasing need for a non-surgical procedure to reduce the involuntary urine loss commonly associated with "stress urinary incontinence." Today, there are a number of products available for this purpose. Essentially all of these products can only be purchased with a prescription and they need to be physically inserted and/or adjusted by a medical doctor or a nurse practitioner in order to perform correctly. Currently, no products are commercially available, without a prescription, to prevent involuntary urine loss from stress urinary incontinence.
In view of the lack of commercially available, non-prescription urinary incontinence devices, it is recognized that there is a need for a urinary incontinence device which can be purchased without a prescription. There is also a need for a urinary incontinence device which is uncomplicated and therefor more user friendly and can be managed by the consumer without the intervention of a medical practitioner. Furthermore, there is a need for a urinary incontinence device which is easy for woman to insert into and remove from their bodies, be more comfortable to wear and provide psychological and realistic assurance that it is capable of properly performing over an extended period of time.
By having available a method for alleviating female urinary incontinence, especially during episodes of increased intra-abdominal pressure, women will be better able to manage this problem.